Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I will move on to the issue of standard variable interest rates. Let us compare the rates Ulster Bank is charging in Ireland with the offering it is making to customers in Northern Ireland. There is quite a difference. The bank has not disclosed its cost of funds in its response to us, but based on the information we have from the other banks I am assuming it is in the region of 1% to 1.5%. Why is there such a difference between the cost of variable-rate mortgages in Ireland and those in the North, particularly at low LTV ratios? With a scenario of 50% or 60% LTV, people seem to be able to get a far better deal in Northern Ireland than here.